Talented Tuesday - Sammie Louthan

Samuel Oscar Louthan, front row holding the bats, the son of John Cope Louthan and Anna Jane Haddow, was born in Linn County, Missouri 20 August 1872 and died in Chester, Major County, Oklahoma 21 December 1921. His mother died in Linn County, Missouri.  His dad remarried to Mary Ann Elizabeth Hale in Linn County.  They came West in 1885 and settled in Barber County, Kansas.  When the land run opened up Oklahoma Territory, John and Sammie went to Oklahoma.  Sammie's brother James stayed in Barber County and Eddie went to Seward County, Kansas.
Sammie played baseball on a traveling town team.  The photo above is a scan of the newspaper article from the Enid News and Eagle published in Enid, Oklahoma. The original photo was in the possession of my great aunt, Annabelle Mitchell.  Three of Sammie's boys; Lester, Howard, and Floy, all played town team baseball in Chester.

L-R: Jimmy Holub, Leonard Louthan, Bud Holub, Bud pierce, Lester Louthan, Howard Louthan, Vic Holub, Lloyd Bensch, and Floy Louthan. 

Back then, at least in a small town, every boy grew up playing baseball.  It was America's game. You may read more about baseball in Chester, Oklahoma on my cousins website, http://okielegacy.org/journal/tabloid/?ID=6186&iss=36&vol=13.

Sammie's talent for baseball was passed down through the generations.  He had many grandsons, great grandsons and great great grandsons who played baseball. One great grandson, Duane Louthan, played for the Oklahoma Travelers in 1982. http://www.elkcitytravelers.com/default.asp?xFILE=College_Pro. Duane has twin sons, Josh and Connor, who are playing for the Bartlesville Braves, a AAA league team, in Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
http://examiner-enterprise.com/sections/sports/local-sports/braves-set-baseball-wars.html.


I would like to know if John Cope played baseball. He would have played in Ohio before the 1860s, as he was injured in the Civil War.   I would love to read newspaper accounts of the early games in which Sammie and his sons played. Off to find newspaper archives online!  As always, love the hunt!